


the power plant fic

by smokingthedrugs



Series: how jish and ty met [1]
Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: (not mentioned but i hc ty as gay and jish as bi jlyk), Band Fic, Hamilton References, Jealous Tyler, Jealousy, Lazy Josh, M/M, Memes, POV First Person, Swearing, Tyler can be a jerk, completely fake, doge, i totally repost this every now and then, idek, large baguette, no relationships today har har, platonic!joshler, power plant, power plant AU, twenty one pilots - Freeform, tyler usually doesn't swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-09-15 22:50:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9261662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokingthedrugs/pseuds/smokingthedrugs
Summary: Nobody really knows how Tyler and Josh met, but what if they were actually co-supervisors at a power plant?Josh is a lazy bean, Tyler is jelly binelli that someone like him could've been promoted so fast.Shenanigans ensue.





	

**Author's Note:**

> ~found it~ 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p_unDuYVB8 11:26-12:45
> 
> THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR 100 HITS! IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME ❤❤
> 
> Brace yourselves, this is a weird 'un.  
> Also thanks to my fren Layla for reading this over and over again for me and encouraging me to post it. 
> 
> Enjoy frens!❤

I absolutely loved my job.

I'd been working at the same power plant since I dropped out of college; who needs a better education when you can have a job as cool as this? I first started here as an ordinary worker, but I'd made my way up to becoming supervisor. I was in charge of everything and everyone, and it was fricking _awesome._

One normal Tuesday as I walked into the back room to put on my job attire I saw an unfamiliar face, an odd occurrence at our high-security plant. The man had bright blue hair and wore an old looking tank top showing off a colourful tattoo sleeve on his right arm.

"Excuse me, Mister? You’re not supposed to be back here. Did you need something?" I asked. He really _shouldn't_ have been there. I didn't know yet who had let him in, but they’d be in _huge_ trouble when I found out. The guy gave me a nervous smile.

"Oh, I work here! Got hired yesterday. Josh Dun," He said cooly, reaching his hand out to shake mine.

"Tyler Joseph. I'm sorry, but I don't remember any _Josh Duns'_ applying here. Or being hired, for that matter." I shook his hand and looked at him firmly. Josh let go and turned around, rummaging through a backpack that sat on a bench behind him. He pulled out a pin and handed it to me.

"See?” He pointed at the writing.

” _Joshua Dun._ S’me!" He gave me a smile. It was a name tag with Josh's name alongside the power plant's logo.

"Oh. Well... alright then! I apologize for the hassle. Now get to work. You can get a uniform right over there." I pointed to the wall beside us where a bunch of brand new dark green jumpsuits, goggles, and hard hats hung. Josh furrowed his eyebrows and stared at me, his dark eyes puzzled. What was wrong? _I gave him quite clear instructions, there’s nothing to be confused about._

"Did you hear me? You're going to be late if you don't get a move on already. Do you want to be sent home on your first day?"

"You must have the wrong idea." He laughed.

”And what is that, Josh?

"I'm the supervisor, not a labourer. Management told me I have a different uniform than the others, but I don't know where to find it... You don’t know where I can get one, do you?" _Supervisor?_ He couldn't be! I was the only supervisor here and I sure as heck didn't need some newbie turning up ruining the wonderful power plant I've created. How was this guy hired even right away and be given such an important job? That had _never_ happened in the entire existence of this plant. Anyone who’d ever been a supervisor had been promoted after being a hard worker for years. A hard worker like _me._

"I think you have something messed up. I'm the only supervisor here, and quite frankly I don’t need any extra help." Josh laughed again. Why was he laughing? This wasn't funny, not at all. The power plant was my kingdom and I couldn’t have some lowly peasant destroying it.

"I guess we’re co-supervisors than, Ty. Don't worry your pretty little head, I'll do a great job." Josh gave me a wink and chuckled to himself. I grunted at him. This was complete bullcrap. Not to mention the _extremely_  unprofessional way he’d spoken to me! I let out a sigh.

"Uniforms are in there then. I'll work the back, you take care if the front, and do not call me _Ty_. Okay, Josh?" Josh nodded and I showed him the supervision room where four navy blue jumpsuits hung. _My_ uniforms.

After we both got changed -and decided to order Josh a few new uniforms since he was much shorter and more heavyset than me which made the one he currently wore very ill-fitting- I showed him around the front area and told him his duties for the day.

"You got all that? Any questions?" I asked after giving him the instructions. Josh nodded giving me a friendly smile.

"'M’ready and well prepared. Now get outta here, Ty, someone’s gotta be in the back!" I shook my head and stomped to where I was supposed to be. That idiot can't just waltz into my power plant with that dopey smile of his and order me around! I should have been telling _him_ what to do! Whatever, he’d would probably end up leaving within the week.

Supervision was tough.

~~~

It had been nine days since Mr. Joshua _'Blue Hair Dumb Smile'_ Dun came on the scene.

Today he was being pretty brave and also outrageous. He showed up to work with bright red hair. It was a work policy that you couldn't dye your hair ridiculous colours -I honestly had no idea how he even got hired with that hair of his- and he knew the rule pretty heckin’ well. I couldn't _believe_ the dummy actually had went and actually done something so… so impulsive!

"Josh, you understand you’re not supposed to dye your hair, right? It's a policy here." Josh shrugged and shook his head. That lier! It was a mandatory rule to know all work policies to even apply, and all of the basic rules were pasted on both sides of the break room door. He definitely, no doubt whatsoever, 100% knew.

"Sorry, Ty. Just thought since my hair was blue before it wouldn't matter if I switched it up a little. It was fading and I look stupid with blonde hair. What were you expecting me to do, _leave it?_ " To say I was ticked off was an understatement. Josh knew exactly what he was supposed to do and he ignored it. The rules were crystal clear!

"I had _assumed_ that would be the last time your hair would be dyed. You don't get a special pass because you had coloured hair before. You should know that." Josh shook his head again with a frown and walked away before I could get in another word. This guy was completely ridiculous and I already couldn't bear to be around him any longer than I had to.

~~~

It had now officially been 2 weeks since Josh was hired and I hated him with a passion. He acted like he could do anything he wanted, just because he was co-supervisor. He would make people stop working all the time to get him snacks and he'd constantly go out for lunch breaks whenever he felt like it for however long he wanted. I'd worked here for years and I still wasn’t allowed to do that! I _wished_ I could fire him, that was part of my job after all, but since we were both supervisors we couldn't fire one another. It was like a two man band where both, and also neither people were in charge.

Today I caught Josh on his break, AGAIN, when it was supposed to be mine.

"Josh! What are you doing!? I'm on lunch, you need to cover the whole plant right now!" He shrugged and gave me one of his stupid fricking smiles while tilting his head.

"I dunno. Can you take over for me, Ty? I am _so_ exhausted." How the heck could _he_ be exhausted? All he did was sit on that stupid chair of his all day and keep an eye on everyone. He didn't do anything!

"No Josh. It's my break and you need to get to work!" Josh rolled his eyes. He actually rolled his eyes at _me!_ I crossed my arms, waiting for him to leave. He stayed for a moment, then seemed to take the hint and proceeded to get up with a huge sigh.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Jesus Christ man, what's up your ass?" He left before I could open up my mouth. How dare he say that to me? This was a workplace and nobody was permitted to talk like that. If he were anybody else he'd have been fired right away but that idiot had power in his stupid job. God, this guy was going to ruin my power plant's hard earned reputation, and my appetite. I was ticking off the days until his departure at this point.

~~~

Five days later I was honestly surprised he hadn't gotten fired _SOMEHOW._ He still constantly slacked off and the day before he fired three people for making a reference to a _"stale meme"._

"Josh! You can't do that!"

"Uh, yeah I can, it's in my job title. Who even thinks _Doge_ is cool anymore? That meme has been dead since 2009." I felt like I could explode. Josh couldn't fire three hard working employees because of a dumb personal opinion!

"Fine, whatever, but you need to find replacements, and quick. Those 3 had very important jobs." Josh scoffed, eyes rolling. He'd been doing that for the past 2 weeks since he said I had _'something up my ass.'_

"Well Ty, if they really cared they wouldn't be talking about _Doge._ Just saying that stupid goddamn dog's name makes me cringe!"

"Josh, _I swear to fucking God I will get your ass fired before you can ever say _'doge'_ again. And for god’s sakes stop fucking calling me Ty!_ Now get your ass to work!" I was surprised as the words came out of my mouth, I never swore at people. But this time Josh was getting so on my nerves.

After the outburst Josh was silent for the whole rest of the day.

~~~

Josh hadn't made a single peep since I freaked out at him, and was actually doing his job for the first time in a month. I was impressed. He wasn't all that terrible at being a co-supervisor, and he hired 3 new people two days after I told him to. I slowly began to hate him a little less. I liked quiet and productive Josh much better than talkative and lazy Josh.

~~~

Josh still hadn't said one word to me in almost a week. While I liked the silence at first, it was really starting to irk me. I tried talking to him sometimes, it did got boring working at a power plant with nobody to talk to, but he would always ignore me. I'd give him

"Hi!"'s and,

"How's it going?"'s but he would always apologize and say he had to get back to work or pop in his headphones and pretend he didn't hear me.

So one fateful day I decided to stop him on his way to the break room and try to talk to him for real. He couldn’t’ve been busy then.

"Hey, Josh. How've you been?" Josh spun around and gave me a confused stare.

"Um, I'm... busy." He was biting the inside of his lip and looking away from me. I could tell he was lying, how could he be busy? He was about to go on break which is why I approached him in the first place. He fidgeted with his hands and kept looking at the door of the break room. We stood there for a second in complete silence, the only sounds were the machines in the power plant.

"I should probably go-" Josh turned around and I touched his shoulder.

"No, wait! Why don't you just talk to me?" I felt Josh's muscles tense up at the contact so I let go.

"I just, uh, it's dumb..." Josh looked at his feet, back still facing me.

"Please! Just... Are you... mad at me?"

"No, it’s- it’s nothing..." He stayed where he was, unmoving. I couldn't figure it out. I had been being really nice since my outburst and oh, _oh..._ That's when it all clicked. He was obviously upset because of that! How could I ignore that? I must’ve made the poor guy feel like shit. What an asshole I was.

"Is it because of... that, _thing_ a week ago?" Josh nods, but barely.

"God, Josh, I am so sorry! I- I was irritated that you weren't working when you were supposed to, and I guess just a _tad bit_ angry about having a co-supervisor. I’ve always worked alone here. It took so long to get this job and- I guess I was jealous... To be completely honest, I still am, you're doing great now, man. Maybe even better than me." I hear a laugh come from Josh, and I slap him on the back friendlily. He turns around, giving me a smile. I hadn't seen him smile in a long time. I guess I didn’t know I’d miss it until it was gone.

"I'm sorry too Tyler. I haven't really had a job for this long before, it's a new experience for me. And I'm not mad at all, I just thought you hated me. I really just was hoping we could be friends. You seem like a cool guy and this is an awesome power plant and I just... I dunno. Can we just start off fresh?" That was a great idea! Maybe if we started off fresh than we could just forget about our rivalry. I felt terrible about everything and it would be for the best to let it go. I turned around and walked away without a word, smiling to myself. I heard Josh let out a disappointed sigh and walked back to him.

"Hey! You must be new here. Tyler Joseph." I said, extending my arm to shake his hand. Josh laughed. He took a deep breath, regaining composure almost immediately.

"Hi, Tyler! I'm Joshua Dun." We shake hands and he pulls me in for a bro hug. I bite my tongue, trying to hold in my laughter but when we let go we both burst out laughing.

"You must be my new co-supervisor! Sorry dude, but I should probably get back to work. Have a fabulous break, my fren!" Josh laughed even harder at the word 'fren'. He gave me a wave and I walked toward the front of the power plant feeling accomplished.

Maybe Josh and I _could_ actually be frens?

~~~

The next couple of days at work Josh and I talk all the time, like the past few weeks of him working here had never happened. We'd become pretty good friends in the short timeframe, and I began to question why I ever hated Josh in the first place. He was a pretty cool dude, and we had tons of things in common. We were both musical, for one. He used to play drums in a band called House of Heroes before he worked here, and was in a band before too.

"Oooh! What’s it called?" He asked. We were both walking up and down monitoring the whole power plant together and exchanging words whenever we passed each other. We also had music playing in the background, a rap song from a Broadway musical Josh was obsessed with that had something to do with a guy named Hamilton. He thought I'd love it too since I told him I loved to rap. And he did. This Hamilton dude really knew how to rap. So did that french guy... Large Baguette? Tyler didn't remember exactly, but the man could rap really fast.

"twenty one pilots, in all lowercase," I shout. I heard him laugh from behind me.

"Interesting. Why so many?"

"It’s from a play. You probably wouldn't know it, it's stupid..."

"Dude, nothing you like is stupid. What's it called?"

"All My Sons by Arthur Miller." My face burnt up. I'd never told anyone where I got the old band name from. The play was super close to my heart and most people thought it was boring.

"Hey, I think I read that in high school! That's with the dude who kills a bunch of people because he sold broken airplane parts and in the end, he commits suicide or something right?" Josh shouted. I laughed.

"Kinda. He killed twenty one pilots, that's where I got the name." Josh nodded as he walked past me.

"Ah, I get it now. You guys have any music?"

"We have one crappy album on iTunes from a few years ago. Got a couple bucks out of it. We didn't go big or anything... We weren't that good..."

"Are you kidding? You guys are probably great!"

"Uhm, _were_ great. We kinda split up a while ago. And I dunno..." Josh looked at me wide eyed. I darted my eyes away, hands fidgeting.

"I hear you sing all the time Ty! you're fu- sorry, I forgot I'm not supposed to swear, whoopsie." I laughed.

"Fricking amazing I mean." Josh corrected. I felt the blush rising on my cheeks. I didn't notice I sang during work, and nobody's really ever complimented my voice before other than my parents.

"Thanks, I wish I could say the same about your drumming but I haven't heard you yet," I smiled. Josh was always tapping away on tables, desks, pipes, everything. He seemed to have good rhythm. It wouldn't have surprised me if he was a great drummer.

"Maybe we could hang out one day and jam out or something. I have Doritos and Redbull." I raise my eyebrows and smirk.

" _Doritos and Redbull,_ heck yeah man!"

~~~

Josh and I were inseparable. We had been best friends for weeks now and saw each other all the time. Whether it be at work, at one of our weekly jam sessions, or even just FaceTiming when we couldn’t meet up, Josh and I always talked.

"Man, do you ever just want to have the plant to yourself?" Josh asked me when we were on break one day. I nodded, letting out a chuckle.

"Duh, this power plant is sick as frick. It's lit man, totally dope, it-"

" _Oh my god shut the fuck up before I vomit._ What’re you gonna do now? Dab unironically?" I laughed even harder. Josh had a weird internet addiction and he hated when people used 'stale' or 'dead' memes or douchy things like saying ‘fleek’ or dabbing. It was a weakness that I'd always use against him, it was hilarious to see Josh cringe so hard.

"No but seriously," he started, staring up at the ceiling.

"We could own the whole power plant. This place is fucking huge! We could bring in couches and TV's and drums and a piano, and even a ukulele. It'd be awesome." Was Josh actually considering it? Of course it'd be cool to own a _whole_ power plant, but it was impossible. We were just two measly supervisors payed a 20 bucks an hour to walk around and observe people and do the occasional paperwork, we sure as heck couldn't afford the place.

"Are you high?" I asked, earning a laugh from Josh. I couldn't help but join in, he had a really contagious laugh.

"How would we even do that? We definitely can't buy the place." He looked at me like I was completely stupid.

"It's obvious. We fire everyone and replace them with hamsters, make a mini hamster-plant. It's a genius idea!" I felt a huge grin form on my face and Josh kept staring, trying to keep a straight face. This was the moment that I realized Josh and I would be best frens forever.

"Y'know what? Let's do it. While we're at it, why don’t we start a band?" I suggested, trying to contain my laughter.

"Yeah, and we can call it _twenty one pilots._ With all lowercase letters so we're all hipster and original. We can have some weird random logo that only we know the meaning of." I roll my eyes.

"Ha, very funny. But... do you actually want to? Minus the hamster thing of course," Josh gave me one of his brilliant smiles that I'd grown so fond of.

"Yes! I wasn't joking about using your name though, I like it." I smiled back. I couldn't believe I had just started a band with my new best fren that used to be my enemy that I met working at my beloved power plant.

"And every song we write can be about this exact moment."

"Of course! What else do you think they would be about?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's my twitter and tumblr if anyone has any suggestions or just needs to talk. my dm's are always open;  
> twitter.com/smokingthedrugs  
> smokingthedrugs.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> here's my twitter if y'all have ideas/suggestions or just need to talk  
> https://twitter.com/_philiphamilton


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